Switching power supply device and switching power supply system

ABSTRACT

There is provided a switching power supply device of hysteresis current mode control system which assures excellent response characteristic for change of output current and reduction of power consumption. In a switching regulator of hysteresis current mode control system, a sense resistor connected in series to a coil is eliminated, a serially connected resistor and a capacitor are connected in parallel to a coil in place of such sense resistor. Thereby, a potential of a connection node of these resistor and capacitor is inputted to a comparator circuit having the hysteresis characteristic for comparison with the reference voltage. Accordingly, a switch may be controlled for ON and OFF states.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the technology which may be effectivelyapplied to a power supply device to generate a DC voltage and moreoverto a switching regulator which is required to have the excellenttransient response characteristic for change of output current, forexample, to the technology which may be effectively applied to a powersupply device to be mounted to a system which results in large variationof current dissipation.

In recent years, a microprocessor is often mounted as a system controldevice into an electronic device. Moreover, an operation frequency ofthe microprocessor (hereinafter, referred to as CPU) tends to be moreand more increased and the maximum operation current also increasesdepending on increase in the operation frequency. For a portableelectronic device or the like comprising a built-in CPU, a system isoften employed, in which a battery voltage is stepped up or down with aswitching regulator to supply the operation current to the CPU, butsince the battery is very much consumed in this system, when operationof the CPU is not required, the entire circuit of the CPU or the partialcircuit thereof is stopped to operate. Therefore, changing range ofcurrent dissipation of the CPU tends to increase with increase of themaximum operation current of the CPU. Therefore, as a power supplydevice to supply the operation current to the CPU, those havingexcellent transient response characteristic for change of output currenthave been required.

As a switching regulator having excellent transient responsecharacteristic, the regulator called the hysteresis current mode controlsystem regulator is known (for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,825,165).

The proposed switching regulator of the hysteresis current controlsystem comprises a current sense resistor connected in series to a coilfor detecting current flowing through the coil and an error amplifierfor outputting a current proportional to an error voltage between thevoltage (feedback voltage) obtained by dividing an output voltage with aresistance dividing circuit and the reference voltage. The switchingregulator of the structure described above compares an error voltageexpressed with product of a value of the resistor connected between aconnecting node of the coil and sense resistor and an output terminal ofthe error amplifier and an output current of the error amplifier with anoutput voltage with a comparator having the hysteresis characteristicand switches a main switch, which supplies a current to the coil when avoltage-drop at the sense resistor exceeds “error voltage+hystererisvoltage”, to OFF from ON and also switches a synchronous switch, whichoperates to reduce a current to the coil synchronously with the mainswitch, to ON from OFF. Moreover, this switching regulator switches themain switch to ON from OFF when the voltage-drop at the sense resistorbecomes lower than the error voltage, and also controls the outputvoltage to the constant value by turning the synchronous switch to OFFfrom ON.

Such switching regulator of the hysteresis current mode control systemis capable of maintaining the output voltage to the constant valuethrough quick response against change of the output current byelongating the ON period of the main switch when the output currentincreases and shortening the ON period of the main switch when theoutput current decreases, in order to provide the feedback effect toelongate the ON period of the synchronous switch.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

However, the conventional switching regulator of the hysteresis currentmode control system has following problems.

First, since a sense resistor is connected in series with a coil, alarge amount of electrical power is consumed in a sense resistor.Moreover, since this power consumption increases as the maximumoperation current of CPU becomes larger, it causes further drop of powerefficiency. Here, it is thought to make small the value of senseresistor in view of lowering such power loss. However, when the value ofsense resistor is lowered too much, since a monitor voltage can nolonger exceed the hysteresis voltage of a comparator, the switchingfrequency does not become stable, resulting in the disadvantage that aripple of output voltage increases.

Second, since an output of error amplifier has to follow the change ofoutput current, the response characteristic for variation of outputcurrent is delayed as much as existence of the error amplifier.Moreover, in general, since a phase compensation circuit is required toprevent oscillation of error amplifier, the physical structure ofcircuit becomes large as much as provision of the phase compensationcircuit.

Third, when a resistance value of the sense resistor is defined as Rcs,the switching frequency fsw of the regulator is expressed as follows.fsw=Vout(Vin−Vout)·Rcs/Vin·Vhys·L  (a)

From the formula (a), it can be understood that the switching frequencyfsw depends on coil inductance L. Therefore, the switching frequencychanges depending on fabrication fluctuation of coil, temperature changeand DC current superimposing characteristic, resulting in the fear forgeneration of beat noise in the audible frequency band depending on theelectro-magnetic interference in an electronic device having thecommunication function and audio reproducing function. Here, the DCcurrent superimposing characteristic means the phenomenon that coilinductance changes depending on a DC current flowing into the coil.

Fourth, when a coil current IL is rather small, an output current Ierrof an error amplifier cannot be neglected and therefore, the switchingfrequency changes because the condition (IL−Ierr)·Rcs≈ILRcs for givingthe formula (a) can no longer be set up and moreover the switchingfrequency becomes unstable because the monitoring voltage does notexceed the hysteresis voltage of comparator, resulting in the problemthat a ripple of the output voltage becomes large.

An object of the present invention is to provide a switching powersupply device of the hysteresis current mode control system providingless power consumption.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a switching powersupply device of the hysteresis current mode control system whichassures excellent response characteristic for change of output currentand can provide small physical structure of circuit because a phasecompensation circuit for preventing oscillation is no longer required.

The other object of the present invention is to provide a switchingpower supply device of the hysteresis current mode control system inwhich the switching frequency does not depend on coil inductance, namelyis not easily influenced by fabrication fluctuation.

Further object of the present invention is to provide a switching powersupply device of the hysteresis current mode control system in which theswitching frequency does not depend on amplitude of coil current, namelythe stable operation is assured even when a coil current is rathersmall.

The aforementioned and the other objects and novel features of thepresent invention will become apparent from the description of thisspecification and the accompanying drawings thereof.

The typical inventions of the present invention will be brieflydescribed below.

Namely, the switching regulator of the hysteresis current mode controlsystem has the structure that a means for detecting change of outputvoltage is provided in place of the sense resistor which is connected inseries with the coil to detect change of output current, the detectedvoltage is inputted to the comparing circuit having the hysteresischaracteristic for comparison with the reference voltage, and thiscomparison circuit generates a feedback signal to the switching controlcircuit to control ON and OFF conditions of the main switch andsynchronous switch. As a means for detecting change of output voltage,the serially connected resistor and capacitor which are connected inparallel to the coil are used and a potential of the connection node ofthese resistor and capacitor is inputted to the comparing circuit.

According to the means described above, since the sense resistor, whichis connected in series with the coil and is given the current flowinginto the coil, is eliminated, power consumption may be reduced.Moreover, since the error amplifier is also eliminated, the responsecharacteristic for changes of input voltage and output voltage may beimproved and since the phase compensation circuit is no longer required,the physical size of circuit may be as much reduced. In addition, theswitching frequency does not depend on fabrication fluctuation of coilinductance, temperature change and amplitude of coil current or the likeand thereby a ripple of output voltage can also be reduced.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a structural diagram of circuit illustrating the firstembodiment of voltage step-down type switching regulator of thehysteresis current mode control system to which the present invention isapplied.

FIG. 2 is a structural diagram of circuit illustrating the secondembodiment of the voltage step-down type switching regulator of thehystereris current mode control system to which the present invention isapplied.

FIGS. 3A to 3E are timing charts illustrating changes of coil currentand output current in the switching regulator of the second embodimentand also illustrating the ON and OFF timings of the main switch andsynchronous switch.

FIG. 4A is a structural diagram of circuit illustrating the thirdembodiment of the voltage step-down type switching regulator of thehysteresis current mode control system to which the present invention isapplied.

FIG. 4B is a timing chart illustrating change of voltage inputted to thecomparator of switching regulator of the third embodiment.

FIG. 4C is a structural diagram of circuit illustrating the fourthembodiment of the voltage step-down type switching regulator of thehysteresis current mode control system to which the present invention isapplied.

FIG. 5A is the circuit composition figure of one certain case of theoperation showing the CR feedback hysteresis control circuit to whichthe present invention is applied.

FIG. 5B is the circuit composition figure of one certain case of theoperation showing the circuit which improved CR feedback hysteresiscontrol circuit of FIG. 5A to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 5C illustrates the output voltage waveforms when the Droop controlis performed and not performed.

FIG. 5D illustrates an embodiment of the CR feedback hysteresis controlcircuit applied to the non-insulated voltage step-up type attained byimproving the circuit of FIG. 5A in regard to the switching regulator ofthe hysteresis current mode to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 5E illustrates an embodiment of the CR feedback hysteresis controlcircuit applied to the non-insulated voltage step-up and step-down typeattained by improving the circuit of FIG. 5A in regard to the switchingregulator of the hysteresis current mode to which the present inventionis applied.

FIG. 5F illustrates an embodiment of the CR feedback hysteresis controlcircuit applied to the non-insulated voltage step-up and step-down typeattained by improving the circuit of FIG. 5A in regard to the switchingregulator of the hydteresis current mode to which the present inventionis applied.

FIG. 5G (a),(b),(c), and (d) are the circuit diagrams of a case of theoperation as the basic composition of the current detection circuitusing CR feedback hysteresis control detection part to which the presentinvention is applied, respectively.

FIG. 5I illustrates a timing chart showing change of output voltage Voutfor change of output current Iout under the condition that a capacitorCf2 is not provided in FIG. 5B.

FIG. 5J illustrates a timing chart showing change of output voltage Voutfor change of output current Iout under the condition that a capacitorCf2 is provided in FIG. 5B.

FIG. 6 is a structural diagram of circuit illustrating the sixthembodiment of the voltage step-down type switching regulator of thehysteresis current mode control system to which the present invention isapplied.

FIG. 7 is a structural diagram of circuit illustrating the seventhembodiment of the voltage step-down type switching regulator of thehysteresis current mode control system to which the present invention isapplied.

FIG. 8 is a structural diagram of circuit illustrating the eighthembodiment of the voltage step-down type switching regulator of thehysteresis current mode control system to which the present invention isapplied.

FIG. 9 is a structural diagram of circuit illustrating the ninthembodiment of the voltage step-down type switching regulator of thehysteresis current mode control system to which the present invention isapplied.

FIG. 10 is a structural diagram of circuit illustrating an embodiment ofthe voltage step-up type switching regulator of the hysteresis currentmode control system to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 11 is a structural diagram of circuit illustrating the embodimentof the voltage step-up and step-down type switching regulator of thehysteresis current mode control system to which the present invention isapplied.

FIG. 12 is a structural diagram of circuit illustrating the embodimentof the switching regulator of the hysteresis current mode control systemto generate negative voltage to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 13 is a structural diagram of circuit illustrating the embodimentof the circuit to generate the reference voltage having the hysteresischaracteristic of switching regulator of the second invention of thepresent invention.

FIG. 14 is a graph illustrating the relationship between the switchingfrequency fsw and the reference voltage VHYS to be applied to thecomparator in the switching regulator of the second invention of thepresent invention.

FIGS. 15A and 15B respectively illustrate the internal circuit andinput/output relationship of the Delay 1 circuit and Delay 2 circuit.

FIG. 16 is a structural diagram of circuit illustrating an embodiment ofthe voltage step-down type switching regulator of the hysteresis currentmode control system to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 17 is a structural diagram of circuit illustrating a modificationexample of the switching regulator of FIG. 1.

FIGS. 18A to 18E are timing charts illustrating changes of coil currentof the switching regulator and output current and the ON and OFF timingsof the main switch and synchronous switch.

FIG. 19 is a structural diagram of circuit illustrating the secondembodiment of the voltage step-down type switching regulator of thehysteresis current mode control system to which the present invention isapplied.

FIG. 20 is a timing chart illustrating changes of voltage inputted to acomparator in the switching regulator of the second embodiment.

FIG. 21 is a structural diagram of circuit illustrating the thirdembodiment of the voltage step-down type switching regulator of thehysteresis current mode control system to which the present invention isapplied.

FIG. 22 is a structural diagram of circuit illustrating the fourthembodiment of the voltage step-down type switching regulator of thehysteresis current mode control system to which the present invention isapplied.

FIG. 23 is a structural diagram of circuit illustrating the fifthembodiment of the voltage step-down type switching regulator of thehysteresis current mode control system to which the present invention isapplied.

FIG. 24 is a structural diagram of circuit illustrating the sixthembodiment of the voltage step-down type switching regulator of thehysteresis current mode control system to which the present invention isapplied.

FIG. 25 is a structural diagram of circuit illustrating an embodiment ofthe voltage step-up type switching regulator of the hysteresis currentmode control system to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 26 is a structural diagram of circuit illustrating a voltagestep-up and step-down type switching regulator of the hysteresis currentmode control system to which the present invention applied.

FIG. 27 is a structural diagram of circuit illustrating an embodiment ofswitching regulator of the hysteresis current mode control system togenerate a negative voltage to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 28 is a structural diagram of circuit illustrating an embodiment ofthe circuit to generate the reference voltage having the hysteresischaracteristic of the switching regulator of the second embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 29 is a graph illustrating the relationship between the switchingfrequency fsw in the switching regulator of the second invention of thepresent invention and the reference voltage VHYS applied to thecomparator.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The preferred embodiments of the present invention will be describedbelow in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a voltage step-down type switchingregulator of the hysteresis current mode control system to which thepresent invention is applied.

The switching regulator of this embodiment comprises a switch SW1consisting of MOSFET and a diode D1 connected in series between avoltage input terminal VIN to which a DC voltage Vin supplied from theDC power supply PS such as a battery is inputted and the ground point(GND), a coil L1 as the inductor connected between the intermediate noden1 of the switch SW1 and diode D1 and an output terminal VOUT, asmoothing capacitor C0 connected between the output terminal VOUT andthe ground point, serially connected resistor R1 and capacitor C1connected in parallel to the coil L1, and a hysteresis comparator H-CMPfor comparing the potential Vn2 of the connection node n2 of theresistor R1 and capacitor C1 and the reference voltage Vref1 from thereference voltage source VREF1. Thereby, this switching regulator isformed to control ON and OFF the switch SW1 by impressing an output ofthe comparator H-CMP to the gate of this switch.

In FIG. 1, a semiconductor integrated circuit as a load such as CPUwhich is operated by receiving a voltage from the switching regulator ofthis embodiment is illustrated as resistor RL. When the switch SW1 iscontrolled to ON and OFF, a current is outputted from the coil L1depending on the duty ratio of the ON/OFF control pulse. Here, thehysteresis comparator H-CMP shows a lower threshold value when thevoltage inputted to the non-inverted input terminal is higher than thereference voltage impressed to the inverted input terminal and shows athreshold value which is increased by the predetermined potential whenthe voltage inputted to the non-inverted input terminal is lower thanthe reference voltage inputted to the inverted input terminal. Since thecomparator circuit having such characteristic is already known,illustration and description of the practical circuit will be omittedhere, but it is desirable here that the comparator uses the circuitformed of a MOSFET having a higher input impedance.

In FIG. 1, the part enclosed by the chain-line is configured as asemiconductor integrated circuit on a semiconductor chip such as asingle crystal silicon. Namely, the coil L1, capacitor C1, resistor R1,switch SW1 and diode D1 are connected as the external elements. Thereby,a highly accurate regulator may be realized.

However, this part is never limited only to the structure describedabove and it may use, in place of the diode D1, the switch SW2 whichcomplementarily turns ON and OFF against the switch SW1, as in the caseof the second embodiment of the switching regulator of the presentinvention illustrated in FIG. 2.

But, in this case, it is required to provide the dead band using thedelay circuits DELAY1, DELAY2 or the like in the switching controlcircuit 100 in order to prevent that the switches SW1 and SW2simultaneously turn ON and a heavier current flows through the voltageinput terminal VIN and the ground point GND.

In the case where a through-current does not flow because the switchesSW1 and SW2 are operated complementarily, the switching control circuitis configured, although not particularly restricted, as designated as100 in FIG. 2. The delay circuit thereof has the input/outputrelationship as illustrated in FIG. 15A. Accordingly, an output isdelayed for the incoming L→H input but this output is not delayed forthe incoming H→L input. The practical delay circuit is configured asillustrated in FIG. 15B. When the H level input is inputted to theterminal in, the PMOSp1 turns OFF and the NMOSn1 turns ON. Therefore, acurrent is drawn to the GND terminal. In this case, since the chargesaccumulated in the parasitic capacitor of the NMOSn2 and PMOSp2 aredrawn via the conductive path including the capacitor C connected to theconductive path and GND terminal and the resistor R, transition of Hlevel at the terminal out is delayed due to the delay time based on thetime constant determined by the capacitor C and resistor R. On the otherhand, when the L-level input is inputted to the terminal in, suchphenomenon does not occur because a current does not flow via theresistor R.

Here, it is also possible that the switches SW1, SW2 (or diode D1) areprovided within the IC chip or the capacitor C1 and resistor R1 providedin parallel to the coil L1 may be provided within the IC chip, andthereby the number of components of the power supply device may bereduced to realize reduction in size by providing these elements intothe IC chip. It is also desirable for the switches SW1, SW2 (or diodeD1) that these are formed of external elements in the power supplydevice used for the system which requires the high level output currentbecause it is required to supply a comparatively high level current, butthe elements formed on the chip may be used in the power supply deviceused for the system which requires the low level output current.

Next, the practical operations of the switching regulator of the secondembodiment will be described using the timing charts of FIG. 3A to FIG.3E.

The switching regulator of the embodiment inverts an output of thehysteresis comparator H-CMP when the potential Vn2 of the connectionnode n2 of the resistor R1 and capacitor C1 becomes lower than thereference voltage Vref being inputted to above comparator. Thereby, theswitch SW1 which supplies a current to the coil L1 is switched to ONfrom OFF with the switching control circuit 100 and the switch SW2 whichoperates to reduce the current supplied to the coil L1 is synchronouslyswitched to OFF from ON. Accordingly, the current flows into the coil L1from the power supply terminal Vin via the switch SW1. In this timing,the capacitor C1 is charged via the resistor R1 and the potential Vn2 ofthe connection node n2 gradually rises.

Moreover, the hysteresis comparator H-CMP inverts its output when thepotential Vn2 of the connection node n2 becomes higher than Vref+Vhysunder the condition that the hysteresis voltage of comparator is definedas Vhys. Accordingly, the switch SW1 is turned OFF from ON with theswitching control circuit 100 and the switch SW2 is synchronously turnedON from OFF, respectively. Thereby, the current flowing into the coil L1is reduced with the switch SW2. In this case, the capacitor C1 isdischarged via the resistor R1 and the potential Vn2 of the connectionnode n2 drops gradually.

The current IL flowing into the coil L1 changes in the shape of atriangular wave as illustrated in FIG. 3A by repeating the operationsdescribed above. Respective changes with time during the periods wherethe coil current IL increases and decreases is (Vin−Vout)/L in theincreasing period and Vout/L in the decreasing period when an inductanceof coil L1 is defined as L. Meanwhile, when the resistance value ofresistor R1 is defined as R, the current Ic which flows to charge anddischarge the capacitor C1 is (Vin−Vout)/R in the increasing period andVout/R in the decreasing period. Therefore, the resistor R1 is used tolinearly transfer change of current IL to the node n2.

Accordingly, an almost stable current IL is supplied to the coil L1under the steady condition (during the periods of T1, T3, T5 of FIG. 3C)where the output current Iout is constant. In this case, when a dutyratio ton/(ton+toff) of the signal to control ON and OFF the switch SW1is defined as N, the output voltage Vout of the regulator is expressedas Vout=N·Vin. Here, the ton indicates the ON period of switch, whiletoff indicates the OFF period of switch. When the switches SW1 and SW2are to be changed over, these switches are controlled to avoid thatthese two switches are turned ON simultaneously and the through-currentflows by providing the predetermined dead band as illustrated in FIG. 3Dand FIG. 3E.

In the transition state (T2) where the output current Iout increases,potential change is transferred to the connection node n2 via thecapacitor C1 depending on sudden drop of the output voltage Vout andwhen such potential Vn2 is rapidly decreased as illustrated in FIG. 3B,the period (OFF period of SW2) to turn ON the switch SW1 is extended asillustrated in FIG. 3D. Moreover, in the transition state (T4) where theoutput current Iout decreases, since the potential Vn2 of the connectionnode n2 rises depending on the sudden drop of the output voltage Vout,the period to turn OFF the switch SW1 is extended as illustrated in FIG.3D.

Although not illustrated in FIG. 3A to FIG. 3E, when the transitionstate (T2) starts where the output current Iout increases while the coilcurrent IL decreases, the period (ON period of SW2) to turn OFF theswitch SW1 is shortened. Moreover, in the transition state (T4) wherethe output current Iout decreases while the coil current IL increases,the period to turn ON the switch SW1 is extended.

The conventional switching regulator of the hysteresis current modecontrol system feeds back change of output voltage to the hysteresiscomparator via an error amplifier. However, in this embodiment, sincechange of output voltage is immediately transferred to the hysteresiscomparator H-CMP via the capacitor C1, the response characteristic forchange of output current Iout can be improved. In addition, since changeof output is transferred to the comparator H-CMP having a higher inputimpedance via the capacitor C1, influence on the output voltage may alsobe reduced. Moreover, change of input voltage Vin is also transferred tothe connection node n2 via the resistor R1 and it is then fed back tothe hysteresis comparator. Accordingly, response of regulator for changeof input voltage can also be improved.

The switching frequency fsw of the switching regulator of thisembodiment is expressed by the following formula.fsw=Vout(Vin−Vout)/Vin·Vhys·r 1·C 1  (b)

From this formula, it is apparent that the switching frequency fsw ofthe regulator of this embodiment depends on the value of the resistor R1and capacitor C1, but not on the inductance of coil L1. The resistanceelement having small fabrication fluctuation in comparison with the coilmay be obtained easily and moreover the capacitance element having thefabrication fluctuation which is similar to that of coil but thetemperature characteristic which is smaller than that of coil may alsobe obtained easily. In addition, since there is no item of theinductance value of coil within the formula (b) indicating the switchingfrequency, it is no longer required to consider the particular problemof coil, namely the DC current superimposing characteristic in which theinductance value changes depending on the flowing current. Accordingly,variation of the switching frequency fsw can be reduced in comparisonwith the conventional switching regulator of the hysteresis current modecontrol system.

Moreover, the sense resistor which is connected in series to the coil isno longer required in the switching regulator of this embodiment. Evenin this embodiment, the resistor is used but it is connected in seriesto the capacitor and there is no path for DC current. Therefore, powerconsumption can be reduced more than the conventional switchingregulator of the hysteresis current mode control system. In addition,since the error amplifier is unnecessary, the response characteristiccan be improved and it is no longer required to provide a phasecompensation circuit. Accordingly, the scale of circuit can be as muchreduced.

FIG. 4A illustrates the third embodiment of the switching regulator ofthe present invention.

This embodiment uses an ordinary comparator CMP through replacement ofthe comparator H-CMP having the hysteresis characteristic used in thesecond embodiment, and switches the reference voltage VHYS to beinputted to this comparator. In more practical, the switching regular ofthis embodiment is provided with a reference voltage source VREF1 and areference voltage generating circuit 120 consisting of the serialresistors R6, R7, R8 for dividing the reference voltage Vref1 generatedby the reference voltage source VREF1 and a resistance dividing circuit121 consisting of the switch SW3 provided in parallel with the resistorR8. In this structure, the potential of the connection node n3 of theresistor R6 and resistor R7 is impressed to the inverted input terminalof the comparator CMP as the reference voltage VHYS and the comparatorCMP seems to have virtual hysteresis characteristic by changing thereference voltage VHYS through the switching operation of the switch SW3with an output of the comparator CMP.

FIG. 4B illustrates the relationship between the reference voltage VHYSapplied to the inverted input terminal of the comparator CMP and thepotential Vn2 of the node n2. The circuit of FIG. 4A operates to turn ONthe switch SW3 to lower the reference voltage VHYS when the potentialVn2 of node n2 is higher than the reference voltage VHYS and to turn OFFthe switch SW3 to raise the reference voltage VHYS when the potentialVn2 of node n2 is lower than the reference voltage VHYS.

In this embodiment, the regulator may be operated in the same manner asthe regulators of the first and second embodiments when it is designedso that the voltage difference between the voltage obtained by turningON the switch SW3 and dividing the reference voltage Vref1 with a ratioof the resistors R6 and R7 and the voltage obtained by turning OFF theswitch SW3 and dividing the reference voltage Vref1 with the ratioR6/(R7+R8) of resistor T6 to the sum of the resistors R7 and R8 becomesequal to the hysteresis voltage Vhys of the comparator H-CMP in thefirst and second embodiments. In this embodiment, the switch SW3 iscontrolled with an output of the comparator CMP to switch the referencevoltage VHYS. However, the similar operation can also be attained byproviding an inverter to invert the potential of the connection node n1of the switches SW1 and SW2 in order to turn ON and OFF the switch SW3with an output of this inverter.

FIG. 4C illustrates the fourth embodiment of the switching regulator ofthe present invention.

This embodiment realizes the switching regulator of the type having thehysteresis characteristic by using two ordinary comparators. In morepractical, the hysteresis characteristic can be attained by inputtingthe potential of node n2 to the non-inverted input terminals of thecomparators CMP1, 2, inputting the reference voltage Vref1 generated bythe reference power source VREF1 to the non-inverted input terminal ofthe comparator CMP1, inputting the voltage Vref1−Vhys divided from thereference voltage Vref1 with the series resistors R8, R9 to thenon-inverted input terminal of the comparator CMP2, inputting thevoltage obtained by inverting an output of the comparator CMP1 to thereset terminal of the RS flip-flop circuit 103 and inputting an outputof the comparator CMP2 to the set terminal of the RS flip-flop circuit103. In this embodiment, hen the potential of the node n2 becomes higherthan the voltage Vref1, the switch SW1 turns OFF from ON and the switchSW2 is synchronously switched to ON from OFF. Moreover, when the voltagegenerated across the resistor R8 becomes the hysteresis voltage Vhys andthe potential Vn2 of the connection node n2 becomes lower thanVref−Vhys, the respective switches are inverted. Thereby this switchingregulator of the present invention may be operated like the regulatorsof the first, second and third embodiments.

FIG. 5A is the circuit composition figure of one certain case of theoperation showing the CR feedback hysteresis control circuit. A voltageproportional to the current (I_(L)) flowing into the coil (L1) isdetected by connecting in parallel a CR series circuit across the coil.However, as illustrated in FIGS. 3A to 3E. a parasitic resistor (Rdcr)exits in the coil and voltage drop (I_(L)·Rdcr) generated by thisparasitic resistor is also detected as a feedback signal. With increaseof current required by the LSI, voltage drop due to the parasiticresistor also tends to increase proportionally. In the conventional CRfeedback hysteresis control circuit, the feedback voltage (Vfb1) isexpressed by the formula (1). $\begin{matrix}\begin{matrix}{{Vfb1} = {{Vout} + {Vcf}_{3}}} \\{= {{Vout} + {{Rdcr}\left\{ \frac{1 + {s \cdot \left( {L/{Rdcr}} \right)}}{1 + {s \cdot {RF2} \cdot {CF3}}} \right\} I_{L}}}} \\{= {{Vout} + {{Rdcr}\left\{ \frac{1 + {s \cdot T}}{1 + {s \cdot T_{1}}} \right\} I_{L}}}}\end{matrix} & {{formula}\quad(1)}\end{matrix}$

Here, T=L1/Rdcr, T₁=RF2·CF3, s=jω, ω=2πfsw1 (fsw1: switching frequency)$\begin{matrix}\left. {\frac{L1}{Rdcr} < {{RF2} \cdot {CF3}}}\Leftrightarrow{T < T_{1}} \right. & {{formula}\quad(2)}\end{matrix}$

In order to reduce voltage drop due to the parasitic resistor of coil,it is required to satisfy the formula (2).

However, since the switching frequency (fsw1) of the conventional CRfeedback hysteresis control circuit is expressed by the formula (3),$\begin{matrix}{{fsw1} = {\frac{{Vout} \cdot \left( {{Vin} - {Vout}} \right)}{{Vin} \cdot {Vhys} \cdot {RF2} \cdot {CF3}} = \frac{{Vout} \cdot \left( {{Vin} - {Vout}} \right)}{{Vin} \cdot {Vhys} \cdot T_{1}}}} & {{formula}\quad(3)}\end{matrix}$

the switching frequency is also reduced when it is attempted to reducethe voltage drop due to the parasitic resistor of coil from the feedbacksignal. Since the power supply devices tend to be scattered near eachLSI for reducing the power supply voltage of LSI, increasing the currentdissipation and reduction in size of the power supply device andincreasing di/dt, reduction in size of the power supply device isrequired. For such reduction in size of the power supply device, thedrive frequency must be increased and therefore reduction of drivefrequency to reduce the influence of voltage drop by the parasiticresistance of coil from the feedback signal will result in variousproblems.

FIG. 5B is the circuit composition figure of one certain case of theoperation showing the circuit which improved CR feedback hysteresiscontrol circuit of FIG. 5A. This CR feedback hysteresis control circuitconnects in series a resistor (RF2) and two capacitors (CF2 and CF3) andthen connects these elements in parallel to the coil (L1) as a means fordetecting the voltage obtained by adding the voltage proportional to thecurrent (I_(L)) flowing into the coil to the output voltage (Vout).

The potential Vfb1 of the connection node n2 of the capacitor CF3 andcapacitor CF2 is compared with the reference voltage Vref1 from thereference voltage source VREF1 with the hysteresis comparator HCMP andthe switches SW1, SW2 are controlled for ON and OFF with an output ofthe hysteresis comparator HCMP.

Here, FIG. 5I illustrates the relationship between the output currentIout and output voltage Vout when the capacitor CF2 is not inserted,while FIG. 5J illustrates the relationship between the output currentIout and output voltage Vout when the capacitor CF2 is inserted.

When the capacitor CF2 is not inserted, the potential of the node n2 isreduced in proportion to the product (Rdcr×Iout) of the parasiticresistor RL of coil L1 and output current Iout. Therefore, when theoutput current Iout increases, the output voltage Vout is reduced to alarge extent.

Meanwhile, when the capacitor CF2 is inserted, since the voltageproportional to the product (Rdcr×Iout) of the parasitic resistor RL ofcoil L1 and the output current Iout is divided with the capacitors CF2,CF3, amount of reduction of potential of the node n2 is reduced andamount of reduction of the output voltage Vout when the output currentIout increases can be adjusted with a ratio of the capacitors CF2, CF3.

Here, the variation range of the output voltage Vout during transitionalchange of the output current Iout can be minimized by matching theamount of reduction of the output voltage Vout when the output currentIout increases with the amount of overshoot of the output voltage Voutwhen the output current Iout is transiently reduced.

This CR feedback hysteresis control circuit can reduce the influence ofparasitic resistor under the condition of T<T₂ or CF2>CF3 as expressedin the formula (4) by extracting the feedback signal between thecapacitors CF2 and CF3. $\begin{matrix}\begin{matrix}{{Vfb1} = {{Vout} + {Vcf3}}} \\{= {{Vout} + {R_{L}\left\{ \frac{1 + {s \cdot \left( {L/R_{L}} \right)}}{1 + \left( {{CF2}/{CF3}} \right) + {s \cdot {RF2} \cdot {CF3}}} \right\} I_{L}}}} \\{= {{Vout} + {{R_{L}\left( \frac{1 + {s \cdot T}}{1 + \left( {{CF2}/{CF3}} \right) + {s \cdot T_{2}}} \right)}I_{L}}}}\end{matrix} & {{formula}\quad(4)}\end{matrix}$

Here, T2=RF2·CF3. The switching frequency (fsw2) of the CR feedbackhysteresis control circuit of the present invention is expressed by theformula (5). $\begin{matrix}\begin{matrix}{{fsw2} = \frac{\left\{ {{Vout} + {\left( {{CF3}/{CF2}} \right) \cdot {Vhys}}} \right\} \cdot \left\lbrack {{Vin} - \left\{ {{Vout} + {\left( {{CF3}/{CF2}} \right) \cdot {Vhys}}} \right\}} \right\rbrack}{{Vin} \cdot {Vhys} \cdot {RF2} \cdot {CF3}}} \\{= \frac{\left\{ {{Vout} + {\left( {{CF3}/{CF2}} \right) \cdot {Vhys}}} \right\} \cdot \left\lbrack {{Vin} - \left\{ {{Vout} + {\left( {{CF3}/{CF2}} \right) \cdot {Vhys}}} \right\}} \right\rbrack}{{Vin} \cdot {Vhys} \cdot T_{2}}}\end{matrix} & {{formula}\quad(5)}\end{matrix}$

When Vout>>(CF3/CF2)·Vhys, the formula (5) may be approximated as theformula (6) $\begin{matrix}\begin{matrix}{{fsw2} = \frac{\left\{ {{Vout} + {\left( {{CF3}/{CF2}} \right) \cdot {Vhys}}} \right\} \cdot \left\lbrack {{Vin} - \left\{ {{Vout} + {\left( {{CF3}/{CF2}} \right) \cdot {Vhys}}} \right\}} \right\rbrack}{{Vin} \cdot {Vhys} \cdot {RF2} \cdot {CF3}}} \\{\approx \frac{{Vout} \cdot \left( {{Vin} - {Vout}} \right)}{{Vin} \cdot {Vhys} \cdot T_{2}}}\end{matrix} & {{formula}\quad(6)}\end{matrix}$

This means that when influence of voltage drop is reduced, it does notgive any influence on the switching frequency. As a result, it ispossible even when the switching frequency is high that voltage drop ofparasitic resistor can be eliminated from the feedback signal. Moreover,voltage drop in the output voltage when the load is heavy can be reducedwithout dependence on the switching frequency only by adding only onecapacitor for the requirement that the number of elements used in theexternal circuit must be reduced as much as possible.

Moreover, with reduction of the power supply voltage of LSI, highprecision voltage control is requested even for change of voltage whenthe load is varied. It is also possible to reduce the series resistanceof capacitor by connecting in parallel a smoothing capacitor, but thismethod will result in increase of cost and the number of elements used.

Therefore, as a high precision voltage control method for change ofvoltage when the load is varied, there is provided a Droop controlmethod, wherein an output voltage is set higher than the referencevoltage when the load is rather small, and the output voltage is setlower than the reference voltage when the load is rather heavy andthereby change of voltage including transitional change thereof when theload is varied is set within the allowable voltage range. FIG. 5Cillustrates the output voltage waveforms when the output current isvaried under the conditions that the Droop control is performed and notperformed with the same smoothing capacitor.

This improved CR feedback hysteresis control circuit can set the voltagedrop (Vdrop) when the Droop control is conducted using the parasiticresistor (Rdcr) of the coil (L1) without change of frequency.

Moreover, the similar effect can also be obtained as described below byreplacing the coil (L1) with a diode, switch or transformer.

When Cf and Rf are connected across the coil, change of output voltage(Vout) cannot be fed back in direct to the hysteresis comparator (HCMP).Therefore, change of output voltage can be fed back in direct byconnecting Cf and Rf across the diode as illustrated in FIG. 5D.

Similarly, when Cf and Rf are connected across the coil, change ofoutput voltage cannot be fed back in direct to the hystreresiscomparator (HCMP). Therefore, change of output voltage can be fed backin direct by connecting Cf and Rf across the switch as illustrated inFIG. 5E.

Similarly, control for the insulated primary side is required, theprimary side must be insulated from the secondary side as illustrated inFIG. 5F. Therefore, when Cf and Rf are connected across the coil in thesecondary side, the feedback signal must be sent to the primary sidefrom the secondary side using a certain insulation means. However, thefeedback can be realized in direct by connecting Cf and Rf across thetransformer in the primary side without use of the insulation means.

When a signal is extracted between the resistor (Rf1) and capacitor(Cf1) or between the capacitor (Cf1) and capacitor (Cf2), the voltage(Vfb) obtained by adding V1 to the voltage proportional to the currentflowing into respective elements can be detected. Therefore, the voltageproportional to the current flowing into respective elements can bedetected and the current flowing respective elements can also bedetected (formulae (7) to (10)) by simultaneously detecting the voltageV1 and obtaining difference between the feedback signal and outputvoltage as illustrated in FIGS. 5G(a) to 5G(d).Coil: Il∝Vfbl1−V1  formula (7)Diode: Id∝Vfbd1−V1  formula (8)Switch: Is∝Vfbs1−V1  formula (9)Transformer: It∝Vfbt1−V1  formula (10)

For detection of current, a resistor for current detection is generallyinserted. In this case, however, power consumption of LSI tends toincrease and the power consumed in the current detection resistor cannotbe ignored even when it is only a very small value. The currentdetection resistor is unnecessary when the CR feedback control detectionunit is used for current detection. Moreover, since the feedback signaland current detection signal can be extracted only with a circuit, thecircuit configuration may be simplified and the number of elements canbe reduced.

FIG. 6 illustrates the sixth embodiment of the switching regulator ofthe present invention.

This embodiment can be configured by connecting the resistor R2 andcapacitor C2 between the connecting node n2 of the resistor R1 andcapacitor C1 and the grounding point in the circuit of the secondembodiment of FIG. 2. According to this sixth embodiment, the merit thatthe output voltage Vout is adjusted with a ratio of the resistors R1 andR2 can be attained in addition to the merit of the second embodiment.Namely, in this embodiment, the output voltage Vout is given with theformula, Vout=R2/(R1+R2)·Vref1. Therefore, the output voltage Vout canbe set freely without change of the reference voltage Vref1 by adjustingthe ratio of the resistors R1 and R2.

Here, the capacitor C2 is provided to prevent deterioration of thetransient response characteristic because delay or lead of phase isgenerated when the resistor R2 is provided. Such delay and lead of phasecan be reduced by setting the resistance value and capacitance value toresult in the relationship, R1·C1=R2·C2.

If delay or lead of phase may be ignored, it is enough to add only theresistor R2 and the capacitor C2 is unnecessary. Moreover, when it isrequested to adjust delay or lead of phase positively, the capacitor C2is allowed to have the value which does not satisfy the relationship

. Moreover, when the capacitor C3 is added as illustrated in FIG. 5A,voltage drop of the output voltage Vout can be adjusted when the outputcurrent Iout has increased.

FIG. 7 illustrates the seventh embodiment of the switching regulator ofthe present invention.

This embodiment is provided with resistors R4, R5 for dividing theoutput voltage Vout, an error amplifier EA1 consisting of atrans-conductance type amplifier (gm amplifier) for detecting a voltagedifference between the divided voltage and reference voltage Vref1 and aresistor R3 connected between the output terminal of the error amplifierEA1 and the grounding point. The output terminal of the error amplifierEA1 is connected to the input terminal in the reference side of thecomparator H-CMP. According to this embodiment, it is possible to attainthe merit that voltage drop of the output voltage Vout is lower thanthat in the first to sixth embodiments because the output voltage isfine-adjusted with the error amplifier EA1 even there exists theparasitic resistor Rdcr in the coil. However, this embodiment also hasthe demerit that variation range of output voltage Vout in thetransitional change of the output current Iout becomes large.

Moreover, this embodiment has the merit that the output voltage Vout maybe set without change of the reference voltage Vref1 with a resistanceratio of the resistors R4 and R5, although response to change of outputcurrent is rather delayed from that of the first embodiment as much asexistence of the error amplifier EA1 and resistor R3. In thisembodiment, the output voltage Vout may be given with the formula,Vout=R5/(R4+R5)·Vref1.

In this embodiment, the resistor R3 is provided between the outputterminal of the error amplifier EA1 and the grounding point, but thisresistor R3 can also be connected between the output terminal of theregulator, namely one terminal of the coil L1 and the output terminal ofthe error amplifier EA1. In this case, almost similar effect can also beobtained. The resistors R4, R5 can be provided within the IC, but it isalso possible for user that these can also be provided as the externalelements in order to freely set the output voltage. When the capacitorC1 and resistor R1 connected in parallel to the coil L1 are provided asthe external elements as in the case of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, it is veryuseful because the number of external terminals (pins) of IC do notincrease even when the resistors R4, R5 are formed as the externalelements.

FIG. 8 illustrates the eighth embodiment of the switching regulator ofthe present invention.

In this embodiment, the fourth embodiment of FIG. 4A and the seventhembodiment of FIG. 7 are combined. Namely, in the embodiment of FIG. 7,the hysteresis comparator H-CMP is replaced with the ordinary comparatorCMP, the series resistors R6, R7, R8 are connected between the outputterminal of the error amplifier EA1 and the grounding point and theswitch SW3 is provided in parallel to the resistor R8 to switch thecomparison voltage applied to the inverted input terminal of thecomparator CMP. Thereby, the comparator CMP shows the hysteresischaracteristic.

In this embodiment, the switch SW3 is configured to control ON and OFFthe potential of the connection node n1 of the main switch SW1 andsynchronous switch SW2 with the signal inverted by the inverter INV.This configuration has been described as an example of modification ofthe embodiment of FIG. 4A. This switch SW3 is capable of controlling indirect such potential with an output of the comparator CMP as in thecase of the embodiment of FIG. 4A. Accordingly, the inverter INV may beeliminated. Moreover, in this embodiment, a voltage input−voltage outputtype differential amplifier can be used, in place of the gm amplifier,as the error amplifier EA.

FIG. 9 illustrates the ninth embodiment of the switching regulator ofthe present invention.

This embodiment is configured, in the second embodiment of FIG. 2, witha current sense amplifier CSA consisting of gm amplifier which inputsthe output voltage Vout and the potential Vn2 of the node n2, a resistorR3 for converting the output current Iocsa of the current senseamplifier to a voltage, a first comparator CMP2 for comparing theconverted voltage with the reference voltage Vref2, a second comparatorCMP3 for comparing the voltage Vocsa converted by the resistor R3 withthe reference voltage Vref3 (<Vref2), and an AND gate G1 for obtaininglogical sum of the output of comparator CMP2 and the output of hyteresiscomparator H-CMP. Accordingly, the condition where an over current flowsand the condition of light load can be detected respectively to changethe control by the switching control circuit 100 depending on thecondition of regulator.

In the circuit of this embodiment, when the output current Ioutincreases, difference between the output voltage Vout and potential Vn2of the node n2 becomes large. Thereby, the output current Iocsa of thecurrent sense amplifier CSA increases and the voltage Vocsa also rises.When the voltage Vocsa becomes higher than the reference voltage Vref2,an output of the comparator CMP2 changes to the low level and therebythe output of AND gate G1 is fixed to the low level. Accordingly, theswitching control circuit 100 turns OFF the main switch SW1 and turns ONthe synchronous switch SW2 to reduce the current flowing into the coil.As a result, the output current Iout can be limited (over currentprotection) not to exceed a certain level.

Moreover, when the output current Iout is reduced, difference betweenthe output voltage Vout and the potential Vn2 of the node n2 is alsoreduced and thereby the output current Iocsa of the current senseamplifier CSA is reduced to reduce the voltage Vocsa. When the voltageVocsa becomes lower than the reference voltage Vref3, an output of thecomparator CMP3 changes to the high level. In this timing, the switchingcontrol circuit 100 simultaneously turns OFF the main switch SW1 andsynchronous switch SW2 to reduce the coil current. Thereby, the powerefficiency can be improved under the light load condition where only theoutput current Iout under the predetermined value flows.

FIG. 10 illustrates an embodiment where the present invention is appliedto the voltage step-up type switching regulator of the hysteresiscurrent mode control system.

In the voltage step-up type switching regulator of this embodiment, thesynchronous switch (SW2) is replaced with a diode D2 for preventinginverse current which is provided in series to the coil L1. Moreover,the main switch SW3 is provided between the connection node n3 of thecoil L1 and diode D2 and the grounding point.

In the conventional switching regulator of the hysteresis current modecontrol system (U.S. Pat. No. 5,825,165), a resistor (216) for sensingcurrent is provided in series with the coil L1, but in the embodiment ofFIG. 10 of the present invention, the serially connected capacitor C1and resistor R1 are connected in parallel to the coil L1 and thepotential Vn2 of the connection node n2 of the capacitor C1 and resistorR1 is inputted to the non-inverted input terminal of the hysteresiscomparator H-CMP. An output Verr of the error amplifier EA2 is inputtedto the inverted input terminal of the hysteresis comparator H-CMP inorder to compare the voltage obtained by dividing the output voltageVout with the resistors R4 and R5 with the reference voltage Vref1. Evenin this embodiment, since the resistor for sensing current is notprovided in series to the coil L1, there is provided the merit thatpower consumption may be reduced in comparison with the conventionalregulator.

Here, it is also possible that a synchronous switch which iscomplementarily turned ON and OFF for the main switch SW3 is provided inplace of the diode D2 and the hysteresis comparator H-CMP by eliminatingthe error amplifier EA2 and resistors R4, R5 for adjusting the outputvoltage.

Moreover, like the embodiment of FIG. 8, it is also possible to use theordinary comparator in place of the hysteresis comparator H-CMP andswitch the reference voltage to give the hysteresis characteristic tosuch comparator. Furthermore, the capacitor C1 and resistor R1 which areconnected in series are provided in parallel to the diode D2 in place ofconnecting the serially connected capacitor C1 and resistor R1 inparallel to the coil L1. However, in this case, it is recommended toconnect the capacitor C1 in the side of output terminal providing thevoltage changing to a large extent and to connect the resistor R1 in theside of anode terminal of the diode D2.

FIG. 11 illustrates an embodiment to which the present invention isapplied to the voltage step-up and step-down type switching regulatorwhich can step up and step down the voltage.

This voltage step-up and step-down type switching regulator of thisembodiment has the circuit configuration that the switch SW1 is providedin series to the coil L1 in the voltage step-up type switching regulatorof FIG. 10 and moreover a backward diode D1 is added between theconnection node n1 of the switch SW1 and coil L1 and the groundingpoint. The switches SW1 and SW3 may be turned ON and OFF in the sametiming or may be turned ON and OFF after a certain delay time.

In this embodiment, the current sensing resistor in series to the coilL1 is eliminated as in the case of the embodiment of FIG. 10, the coilL1 is replaced with the serially connected capacitor C1 and resistor R1in parallel to the diode D2, and the potential of the connection node n2of the capacitor C1 and resistor R1 is inputted to the non-invertedinput terminal of the hysteresis comparator H-CMP. This embodiment alsoprovides the merit that power consumption is small in comparison withthe conventional regulator because a series resistor for sensing thecurrent is not provided.

Here, it is also possible that the diodes D1, D2 may be replaced with asynchronous switch which is complementarily turned ON and OFF for themain switches SW1, SW3 and that the error amplifier EA2 and resistorsR4, R5 which can adjust the output voltage are eliminated and thereference voltage Vref1 is applied in direct to the hysteresiscomparator H-CMP. Moreover, like the embodiment of FIG. 8, thehysteresis comparator H-CMP is replaced with the ordinary comparator andthe reference voltage thereof is switched to provide the hysteresischaracteristic.

Furthermore, the serially connected capacitor C1 and resistor R1 may beconnected in parallel to the coil L1 like the embodiment of FIG. 10, inplace of connecting the serially connected capacitor C1 and resistor R1in parallel to the diode D2. In this case, the capacitor C1 and resistorR1 may be connected in the relationship of FIG. 10 and the capacitor C1may be connected in the side of connection node n1 with the switch SW1,while the resistor R1 may be connected in the side of anode terminal ofthe diode D2.

FIG. 12 illustrates an embodiment where the present invention is appliedto the switching regulator of the hysteresis current mode control systemwhich generates a negative voltage.

The negative voltage generating switching regulator of this embodimenthas a structure that allocation of coil L1 and switch SW3 is inverted inthe voltage step-up type switching regulator of FIG. 10. Moreover, thediode D3 for preventing backward current is inverted in allocation fromthe diode D2 of FIG. 10. In this embodiment, the resistor for sensingcurrent in series to the coil L1 is not provided as in the case of theembodiment of FIG. 10, the serially connected capacitor C1 and resistorR1 are connected in parallel to the coil L1, and the potential of theconnection node n2 of the capacitor C1 and resistor R1 is inputted tothe non-inverted input terminal of the hysteresis comparator H-CMP. Evenin this embodiment, since the serial resistor for sensing current is notprovided, there is provided a merit that power consumption can bereduced in comparison with the conventional switching regulator.

Here, it is also possible that the diode D3 is replaced with thesynchronous switch which is complementarily turned ON and OFF to themain switch SW3 and the error amplifier EA2 and resistors R4, R5 whichcan adjust the output voltage are eliminated to apply in direct thereference voltage Vref1 to the hysteresis comparator H-CMP. Moreover,like the embodiment of FIG. 8, the hysteresis comparator H-CMP isreplaced with the ordinary comparator to switch the reference voltagethereof in order to provide the hysteresis characteristic.

FIG. 13 illustrates an embodiment of the second invention of the presentspecification.

In this embodiment, the second invention is applied to the switchingregulator where the reference voltage VHYS of two stages are generatedas the voltage to be supplied to the comparator CMP like the embodimentof FIG. 4A in order to give the hysteresis characteristic. In morepractical, the MOSFET TR1 is provided in parallel to the resistor R8 ofthe resistance dividing circuit 121 which generates the referencevoltage VHYS of two stages applied to the comparator CMP by dividing thereference voltage Vref1 of the reference power source VREF1 with theresistors R6,R7, R8 and the ON resistance of the MOSFET TR1 is variedwith the circuit having the structure similar to the PLL (Phase-LockedLoop) in order to compensate for the reference voltage VHYS generatedwith the resistance dividing circuit 121.

In the circuits of FIG. 1, FIG. 2 and FIG. 4A, it is apparent from theformula (2) that the switching frequency fsw varies when the inputvoltage Vin and output voltage Vout are changed. In addition, when theswitching frequency fsw of regulator varies and it is matched with thecommunication frequency in the electronic device having thecommunication function and audio reproducing function, there isprobability for generation of beat noise in the audible frequency banddue to the electromagnetic interference. Therefore, in this embodiment,generation of noise is controlled by compensating for the referencevoltage VHYS so that the switching frequency fsw of regulator is alwaysmatched with the frequency fref of the reference clock φc even when theinput voltage Vin and output voltage Vout are changed.

In more practical, the switching regulator of this embodiment comprisesa frequency comparator 101 which detects difference between thefrequency of the potential Vn1 (the control signal of switch SW1 is alsoallowable) of the connection node n1 of the switches SW1 and SW2 whichchanges in the same period as the switching frequency fsw of theregulator and the reference clock φc of the system and outputs thesignals UP, DN depending on the frequency difference, a charge pumpcircuit 102 which is operated with the output signals UP, DN of thefrequency comparator 101, and a loop filter 103 for generating thecontrol voltage Vc with inclusion of a capacitor which is charged anddischarged with the charge pump circuit 102. Accordingly, the voltage Vcof the loop filter 103 is applied to the gate terminal of the MOSFETTR1. Moreover, the switches SW11, SW12 are provided between the loopfilter 103 and charge pump circuit 102. A PLL circuit generally uses aphase comparator and both phase comparator and frequency comparator aresometimes provided in order to assure quick pull-in of the frequency. Inthe circuit configuration of this embodiment, only the frequencycomparator is used.

The circuit of this embodiment is operated to increase, when thepotential Vn1 of the node n1, namely the switching frequency ofregulator becomes relatively high, the voltage Vc of the loop filter 103to reduce the ON resistance of the MOSFET TR1 and thereby to reduce thecombined resistance with the resistor R8 to lower the reference voltageVHYS. Moreover, when the changing frequency of the potential Vn1 of thenode n1 becomes relatively lower, the voltage Vc of the loop filter 103is also lowered to increase the ON resistance of the MOSFET TR1.Thereby, the combined resistance with the resistor R8 becomes large toincrease the reference voltage VHYS.

FIG. 14 illustrates the relationship among the switching frequency fswof regulator and volgage Vc of loop filter 103 and the reference voltageVHYS. As in the case of FIG. 14, the switching frequency fsw of theregulator is controlled to be always matched with or set to the valuenear the frequency fref of the reference clock φc of the system bycompensating for the reference voltage VHYS to be inversely proportionalto the voltage Vc which increases proportionally to the switchingfrequency fsw. As a result, it can be prevented that beat noise isgenerated in the audible frequency range with the switching noisegenerated by the regulator.

Here, when the reference voltage VHYS is changed by controlling the ONresistance of the MOSFET TR1 through operation of the PLL circuitdescribed above, since the period where the potential Vn1 of the node n1varies is extended or shortened with the control of ON/OFF period of theswitches SW1, SW2 executed when the output current Iout is varied(transient periods T2, T4) as described with reference to the timingchart of FIGS. 3A to 3E, an output of the frequency comparator 101 istemporarily interfered. Therefore, in this embodiment, a monitoringcircuit 104 is provided to monitor the potential Vn1 (control signal ofswitch SW1 is also allowable) of the connection node n1 of the switchesSW1 and SW2 and the switches SW11, SW12 are quickly controlled, when theON period of the switch SW1 is continued for the predetermined period orlonger, to become OFF so that an output of the frequency comparator 101is not supplied to the charge pump 102.

The present invention has been described above practically withreference to the preferred embodiments, but the present invention is notlimited to above embodiments and allows various changes or modificationswithin the scope not departing from the claims. For example, in aboveembodiments, the synchronous switch SW2 is provided in series to themain switch SW1 in order to operate to reduce the current to the coilwhen the switch SW1 is turned OFF. But, this synchronous switch SW2 maybe replaced with a diode. Moreover, in the embodiment of FIG. 13, themonitoring circuit 104 monitors the potential Vn1 of the node n1 in viewof suspending compensation for the reference voltage VHYS during theperiod where the output current varies but it is also possible to formthe structure that compensating operation for the reference voltage VHYSis suspended by monitoring the potential of the other area such as thenode n2.

The switching regulator invented as the present invention has beendescribed above as the example where it is independently used as thepower supply device of an electronic device in the application fieldconsidered as the background of the present invention, but the switchingregulator of the present invention can also be used widely into theswitching regulator and DC-DC converter in the semiconductor integratedcircuit device.

The effects of the typical inventions disclosed in the present inventionare as follows.

That is, according to the present invention, there is provided aswitching power supply device of the hysteresis current mode controlsystem which assures excellent response characteristic for change ofoutput current and lower power consumption. Thereby, it is possible torealize a portable electronic device which can reduce consumption ofbattery in the power supply device to be driven with the battery and canensure long-term operation only with single battery or with singlecharge thereof.

Moreover, according to the present invention, it is possible to realizethe switching power supply device of hysteresis current mode controlsystem which can generate high precision voltage where the switchingfrequency does not depend on coil inductance and amplitude of coilcurrent. In addition, a switching power supply device can also berealized wherein generation of noise which may give adverse effect onthe system can be suppressed because the switching frequency does notvary.

FIG. 16 illustrates an embodiment of the voltage step-down typeswitching regulator of hysteresis current mode control system to whichthe present invention is applied.

The switching regulator of this embodiment comprises switches SW1, SW2consisting of MOSFET connected in series between the voltage inputterminal VIN to which a DC voltage Vin is inputted from a DC powersupply PS such as a battery and the grounding point (GND), the coil L1as an inductor connected between the intermediate node n1 of theswitches SW1, SW2 and the output terminal VOUT, the smoothing capacitorC0 connected between the output terminal VOUT and the grounding point,the switching control circuit 100 for generating the signal (controlpulse) which is inputted to the gates of the switches SW1, SW2 tocontrol ON and OFF these switches, serially connected resistor R1 andcapacitor C1 connected in parallel to the coil L1, and the hysteresiscomparator H-CMP for comparing the potential Vn2 of the connection noden2 of the resistor R1 and capacitor C1 with the reference voltage Vref1from the reference voltage source VREF1. Thereby, an output of thecomparator H-CMP is supplied to the switching control circuit 100.

In FIG. 16, the semiconductor integrated circuit as a load like CPUwhich is operated by receiving the voltage from the switching regulatorof this embodiment is defined as the resistor RL. Since the switches SW1and SW2 are complementarily turned ON and OFF, the current is outputtedfrom the coil L1 depending on the duty ratio of the ON/OFF controlpulses. Here, the hysteresis comparator H-CMP means the comparator whichshows a lower threshold value when the voltage inputted to thenon-inverted input terminal is higher than the reference voltageimpressed to the inverted input terminal and shows a threshold valuewhich is increased by the predetermined potential when the voltageinputted to the non-inverted input terminal is lower than the referencevoltage impressed to the inverted input terminal. Since the comparatorcircuit having such characteristic is well known, illustration anddescription of the practical circuit are eliminated here. As thecomparator, it is preferable to use the circuit formed of MOSFET to showhigher input impedance.

In FIG. 16, the part enclosed by a chain line is configured as asemiconductor integrated circuit formed on a semiconductor chip such assingle crystal silicon. Namely, the coil L1, capacitor C1, resistor R1,switches SW1, SW2 are connected as the external elements. Therefore, ahighly accurate regulator may be realized.

However, the regulator is not limited only to such structure and it isalso possible, as illustrated in FIG. 17, to provide the switches SW1,SW2 into the IC chip and to provide the capacitor C1 and resistor R1which are parallel to the coil L1 into the IC chip. The number ofcomponents of the power supply device can be reduced to realizereduction in size by providing these elements into the IC chip. Theswitches SW1, SW2 are preferably formed of the external elements in thepower supply device to be used in the system which provides high leveloutput current because it is required to supply comparatively largecurrent. However, in the power supply device used in the system whichprovide low level output current, the elements formed on the chip may beused.

Next, practical operations of the switching regulator of this embodimentwill be described with reference to the timing chart of FIGS. 18A to18E.

The switching regulator of this embodiment inverts an output of thecomparator when the potential Vn2 of the connection node n2 of theresistor R1 and capacitor C1 becomes lower than the reference voltageVref inputted to the hysteresis comparator H-CMP. Thereby, the mainswitch SW1 supplying the current to the coil L1 is switched to ON statefrom OFF state with the switching control circuit 100 and thesynchronous switch SW2 operating to reduce the current flowing into thecoil L1 is synchronously turned OFF from ON. Accordingly, the currentflows into the coil L1 from the power supply terminal Vin via the switchSW1. In this timing, the capacitor C1 is charged via the resistor R1 andthe potential Vn2 of the connection node n2 gradually rises.

Moreover, the hysteresis comparator H-CMP inverts its output when thepotential Vn2 of the connection node n2 becomes higher than Vref+Vhysunder the condition that the hysteresis voltage of comparator is definedas Vhys. Accordingly, the switch SW1 is turned OFF from ON with theswitching control circuit 100 and the switch SW2 is synchronously turnedON from OFF, respectively. Thereby, the current flowing into the coil L1is reduced with the switch SW2. In this case, the capacitor C1 isdischarged via the resistor R1 and the potential Vn2 of the connectionnode n2 drops gradually.

With repetition of the operations described above, the current ILflowing into the coil L1 changes in the shape of the triangular wave asillustrated in FIG. 18A. The coil current IL is expressed as(Vin−Vout)/L in the increasing period and as Vout/L in the decreasingperiod when the coil inductance is defined as L.

Accordingly, an almost stable current IL is supplied to the coil L1under the steady condition (during the periods of T1, T3, T5 of FIG.18C) where the output current lout is constant. In this case, when aduty ratio ton/(ton+toff) of the signal to control ON and OFF the switchSW1 is defined as N, the output voltage Vout of the regulator isexpressed as Vout=N·Vin. Here, the ton indicates the ON period ofswitch, while toff indicates the OFF period of switch. When the switchesSW1 and SW2 are to be changed over, these switches are controlled toavoid that these two switches are turned ON simultaneously and thethrough-current flows by providing the predetermined dead band asillustrated in FIG. 18D and FIG. 18E.

In the transient state (T2) where the output current Iout increases,potential change is transferred to the connection node n2 via thecapacitor C1 depending on sudden drop of the output voltage Vout andwhen such potential Vn2 is rapidly decreased as illustrated in FIG. 18B,the period (OFF period of SW2) to turn ON the switch SW1 is extended asillustrated in FIG. 18D. Moreover, in the transition state (T4) wherethe output current Iout decreases, since the potential Vn2 of theconnection node n2 rises depending on the sudden drop of the outputvoltage Vout, the period to turn OFF the switch SW1 is extended asillustrated in FIG. 18D.

Although not illustrated in FIG. 18A to FIG. 18E, when the transitionstate (T2) starts where the output current Iout increases while the coilcurrent IL decreases, the period (ON period of SW2) to turn OFF theswitch SW1 is shortened. Moreover, in the transition state (T4) wherethe output current Iout decreases while the coil current IL increases,the period to turn ON the switch SW1 is extended.

The conventional switching regulator of the hysteresis current modecontrol system feeds back change of output voltage to the hysteresiscomparator via an error amplifier. However, in this embodiment, sincechange of output voltage is immediately transferred to the hysteresiscomparator H-CMP via the capacitor C1, the response characteristic forchange of output current Iout can be improved. In addition, since changeof output is transferred to the comparator H-CMP having a higher inputimpedance via the capacitor C1, influence on the output voltage may alsobe reduced. Moreover, change of input voltage Vin is also transferred tothe connection node n2 via the resistor R1 and it is then fed back tothe hysteresis comparator. Accordingly, response of regulator for changeof input voltage can also be improved.

The switching frequency fsw of the switching regulator of thisembodiment is expressed by the following formula.fsw=Vout(Vin−Vout)/Vin·Vhys·R 1 ·C 1  (2)

From this formula, it is apparent that the switching frequency fsw ofthe regulator of this embodiment depends on the resistor R1 andcapacitor C1, but not on the inductance of coil L1. The resistanceelement having small fabrication fluctuation in comparison with the coilmay be obtained easily and moreover the capacitance element having thefabrication fluctuation which is similar to that of coil but thetemperature characteristic which is smaller than that of coil may alsobe obtained easily. In addition, since there is no item of theinductance value of coil within the formula (2) indicating the switchingfrequency, it is no longer required to consider the particular problemof coil, namely the DC current superimposing characteristic in which theinductance value changes depending on the flowing current. Accordingly,variation of the switching frequency fsw can be reduced in comparisonwith the conventional switching regulator of the hysteresis current modecontrol system.

Moreover, the sense resistor which is connected in series to the coil isno longer required in the switching regulator of this embodiment. Evenin this embodiment, the resistor is used but it is connected in seriesto the capacitor and there is no path for DC current. Therefore, powerconsumption can be reduced more than the conventional switchingregulator of the hysteresis current mode control system. In addition,since the error amplifier is unnecessary, the response characteristiccan be improved and it is no longer required to provide a phasecompensation circuit. Accordingly, the scale of circuit can be as muchreduced.

FIG. 19 illustrates the second embodiment of the switching regulator ofthe present invention.

This embodiment uses an ordinary comparator CMP through replacement ofthe comparator H-CMP having the hysteresis characteristic used in thefirst embodiment, and switches the reference voltage VHYS to be inputtedto this comparator. In more practical, the switching regulator of thisembodiment is provided with the reference voltage source VREF1 and thereference voltage generating circuit 120 consisting of the serialresistors R6, R7, R8 for dividing the reference voltage Vref1 generatedby the reference voltgage source VREF1 and the resistance dividingcircuit 121 consisting of the switch SW3 provided in parallel to theresistor R8. In this structure, the potential of the connection node n3of the resistor R6 and resistor R7 is impressed to the inverted inputterminal of the comparator CMP as the reference voltage VHYS and thecomparator CMP seems to have virtual hysteresis characteristic bychanging the reference voltage VHYS through the switching operation ofthe switch SW3 with an output of the comparator CMP.

FIG. 20 illustrates the relationship between the reference voltage VHYSapplied to the inverted input terminal of the comparator CMP and thepotential Vn2 of the node n2. The circuit of FIG. 19 operates to turn ONthe switch SW3 to lower the reference voltage VHYS when the potentialVn2 of node n2 is higher than the reference voltage VHYS and to turn OFFthe switch SW3 to raise the reference voltage VHYS when the potentialVn2 of node n2 is lower than the reference voltage VHYS. In thisembodiment, the regulator may be operated in the same manner as theregulator of the first embodiment when it is designed so that thevoltage difference between the voltage obtained by turning ON the switchSW3 and dividing the reference voltage Vref1 with a ratio of theresistors R6 and R7 and the voltage obtained by turning OFF the switchSW3 and dividing the reference voltage Vref1 with the ratio R6/(R7+R8)of resistor T6 to the sum of the resistors R7 and R8 becomes equal tothe hysteresis voltage Vhys of the comparator H-CMP in the firstembodiment. In this embodiment, the switch SW3 is controlled with anoutput of the comparator CMP to switch the reference voltage VHYS.However, the similar operation can also be attained by providing aninverter to invert the potential of the connection node n1 of theswitches SW1 and SW2 in order to turn ON and OFF the switch SW3 with anoutput of this inverter.

FIG. 21 illustrates the third embodiment of the switching regulator ofthe present invention.

This embodiment connects a resistor R2 and a capacitor C2 between theconnection node n2 of the resistor R1 and capacitor C1 and the groundingpoint in the circuit of the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1. This thirdembodiment has the merit, in addition to the merit of the firstembodiment, that an output voltage Vout can be adjusted with a ratio ofthe resistor R1 and the resistor R2. Namely, in this embodiment, theoutput voltage Vout is given by the formula, Vout=R2/(R1+R2). Therefore,the output voltage Vout can be set freely without change of thereference voltage Vref1 by adjusting the ratio of the resistor R1 andresistor R2.

Here, the capacitor C2 is provided to prevent deterioration of transientresponse characteristic caused by generation of delay and lead of phasebecause the resistor R2 is provided. Delay and lead of phase can bereduced by setting the resistance value and capacitance value to attainthe relationship of R1·C1=R2·C2.

FIG. 22 illustrates the fourth embodiment of the switching regulator ofthe present invention.

This embodiment is provided, in the circuit of the embodiment of FIG.16, with resistors R4 and R5 for dividing the output voltage Vout, theerror amplifier EA1 consisting of the trans-conductance type amplifier(gm amplifier) for detecting voltage difference between the dividedvoltage and reference voltage Vref1 and the resistor R3 connectedbetween the output terminal of error amplifier EA1 and the groundingpoint. The output terminal of error amplifier EA1 is connected to theinput terminal in the reference side of comparator H-CMP. According tothis embodiment, since the sense resistor connected in series to thecoil L1 is not provided, it is possible to obtain the merit that powerconsumption can be reduced like the first embodiment in comparison withthe conventional circuit.

Moreover, this embodiment provides the merit that the output voltageVout can be set without change of the reference voltage Vref1 due to theresistance ratio of the resistors R4 and R5, although response to changeof output current is delayed in comparison with the first embodiment asmuch as existence of the error amplifier EA1 and resistor R3. In thisembodiment, the output voltage Vout is given by the formulaVout=R5/(R4+R5)·Vref1.

In this embodiment, the resistor R3 is provided between the outputterminal of error amplifier EA1 and the grounding point, but thisresistor R3 can also be connected between the output terminal ofregulator, namely one terminal of coil L1 and the output terminal oferror amplifier EA1. In this case, the similar effect can also beobtained. The resistors R4, R5 can also be provided within the IC but auser can also be set freely the output voltage by providing theseresistors as the external elements. When the capacitor C1 and resistorR1 parallel to the coil L1 are provided as the external elements asillustrated in FIG. 16 and FIG. 17, the number of external terminals(pins) of the IC is not increased conveniently even when the resistorsR4 and R5 are formed as the external elements.

FIG. 23 illustrates the fifth embodiment of the switching regulator ofthe present invention.

This embodiment can be realized in such a form as combining the secondembodiment of FIG. 19 and the fourth embodiment of FIG. 22. Namely, inthe embodiment of FIG. 22, the hysteresis comparator H-CMP is replacedwith an ordinary comparator CMP, the serially connected resistors R6,R7, R8 are connected between the output terminal of error amplifier EAand the grounding point, the switch SW3 is provided parallel to theresistor R8 and the comparison voltage applied to the inverted inputterminal of the comparator CMP is switched. Thereby, the comparator CMPis capable of showing the hysteresis characteristic.

In this embodiment, the switch SW3 is configured to be controlled for ONand OFF states with the signal obtained by inverting the potential ofthe connection node n1 of the main switch SW1 and synchronous switch SW2with the inverter INV. This structure is described as an example ofmodification in the embodiment of FIG. 19 and the switch SW3 can also becontrolled in direct, like the embodiment of FIG. 19, with an output ofthe comparator CMP. Accordingly, the inverter INV may be eliminated.Moreover, in this embodiment, as the error amplifier EA, a voltageinput−voltage output type differential amplifier may be used in place ofthe gm amplifier.

FIG. 24 illustrates the sixth embodiment of the switching regulator ofthe present invention.

This embodiment is provided with, in the first embodiment of FIG. 16,with the current sense amplifier CSA consisting of gm amplifier whichinputs the output voltage Vout and the potential Vn2 of the node n2, theresistor R3 for converting the output current Iocsa of the current senseamplifier to voltage, the first comparator CMP2 for comparing theconverted voltage with the reference voltage Vref2, the secondcomparator CMP3 for comparing the voltage Vocsa converted by theresistor R3 with the reference voltage Vref3 (<Vref2), and the AND gateG1 for obtaining logical sum of the output of comparator CMP2 and theoutput of hysteresis comparator H-CMP. Accordingly, the condition wherean over current flows and the condition of light load can be detectedrespectively to change the control by the switching control circuit 100depending on the condition of regulator.

In the circuit of this embodiment, when the output current Ioutincreases, difference between the output voltage Vout and potential Vn2of the node n2 becomes large. Thereby, the output current Iocsa of thecurrent sense amplifier CSA increases and the voltage Vocsa also rises.When the voltage Vocsa becomes higher than the reference voltage Vref2,an output of the comparator CMP2 changes to the low level and therebythe output of AND gate G1 is fixed to the low level. Accordingly, theswitching control circuit 100 turns OFF the main switch SW1 and turns ONthe synchronous switch SW2 to reduce the current flowing into the coil.As a result, the output current Iout can be limited (over currentprotection) not to exceed a certain level.

Moreover, when the output current Iout is reduced, difference betweenthe output voltage Vout and the potential Vn2 of the node n2 is alsoreduced and thereby the output current Iocsa of the current senseamplifier CSA is reduced to reduce the voltage Vocsa. When the voltageVossa becomes lower than the reference voltage Vref3, an output of thecomparator CMP3 changes to the high level. In this timing, the switchingcontrol circuit 100 simultaneously turns OFF the main switch SW1 andsynchronous switch SW2 to reduce the coil current. Thereby, the powerefficiency can be improved under the light load condition where only theoutput current Iout under the predetermined value flows.

FIG. 25 illustrates an embodiment where the present invention is appliedto the voltage step-up type switching regulator of the hysteresiscurrent mode control system.

In the voltage step-up type switching regulator of this embodiment, thesynchronous switch (SW2) is replaced with a diode D2 for preventinginverse current which is provided in series to the coil L1. Moreover,the main switch SW3 is provided between the connection node n3 of thecoil L1 and diode D2 and the grounding point.

In the conventional switching regulator of the hysteresis current modecontrol system (U.S. Pat. No. 5,825,165), a resistor (216) for sensingcurrent is provided in series with the coil L1, but in the embodiment ofFIG. 25 of the present invention, the serially connected capacitor C1and resistor R1 are connected in parallel to the coil L1 and thepotential Vn2 of the connection node n2 of the capacitor C1 and resistorR1 is inputted to the non-inverted input terminal of the hysteresiscomparator H-CMP. An output Verr of the error amplifier EA2 is inputtedto the inverted input terminal of the hysteresis comprator H-CMP inorder to compare the voltage obtained by dividing the output voltageVout with the resistors R4 and R5 with the reference voltage Vref1. Evenin this embodiment, since the resistor for sending current is notprovided in series to the coil L1, there is provided the merit thatpower consumption may be reduced in comparison with the conventionalregulator.

Here, it is also possible that a synchronous switch which iscomplementarily turned ON and OFF for the main switch SW3 is provided inplace of the diode D2 and the reference voltage Vref1 is impressed indirect to the hysteresis comparator H-CMP by eliminating the erroramplifier EA2 and resistors R4, R5 for adjusting the output voltage.

Moreover, like the embodiment of FIG. 23, it is also possible to use theordinary comparator in place of the hysteresis comparator H-CMP andswitch the reference voltage to give the hysteresis characteristic tosuch comparator. Furthermore, the capacitor C1 and resistor R1 which areconnected in series are provided in parallel to the diode D2 in place ofconnection of the serially connected capacitor C1 and resistor R1 inparallel to the coil L1. However, in this case, it is recommended toconnect the capacitor C1 in the side of output terminal providing thevoltage changing to a large extent and to connect the resistor R1 in theside of anode terminal of the diode D2.

FIG. 26 illustrates an embodiment where the present invention is appliedto the voltage step-up and step-down type switching regulator which canstep up and step down the voltage.

This voltage step-up and step-down type switching regulator of thisembodiment has the circuit configuration that the switch SW1 is providedin series to the coil L1 in the voltage step-up type switching regulatorof FIG. 25 and moreover a backward diode D1 is added between theconnection node n1 of the switch SW1 and coil L1 and the groundingpoint. The switches SW1 and SW3 may be turned ON and OFF in the sametiming or may be turned ON and OFF after a certain delay time.

In this embodiment, the current sensing resistor in series to the coilL1 is eliminated as in the case of the embodiment of FIG. 25, the coilL1 is replaced with the serially connected capacitor C1 and resistor R1in parallel to the diode D2, and the potential of the connection node n2of the capacitor C1 and resistor R1 is inputted to the non-invertedinput terminal of the hysteresis comparator H-CMP. This embodiment alsoprovides the merit that power consumption is small in comparison withthe conventional regulator because a series resistor for sensing thecurrent is not provided.

Here, it is also possible that the diodes D1, D2 may be replaced with asynchronous switch which is complementarily turned ON and OFF for themain switches SW1, SW3 and that the error amplifier EA1 and resistorsR4, R5 which can adjust the output voltage are eliminated and thereference voltage Vref1 is applied in direct to the hysteresiscomparator H-CMP. Moreover, like the embodiment of FIG. 23, thehysteresis comparator H-CMP is replaced with the ordinary comparator andthe reference voltage thereof is switched to provide the hysteresischaracteristic.

Furthermore, the serially connected capacitor C1 and resistor R1 may beconnected in parallel to the coil L1 like the embodiment of FIG. 35, inplace of connecting the serially connected capacitor C1 and resistor R1in parallel to the diode D2. In this case, the capacitor C1 and resistorR1 may be connected in the relationship of FIG. 25 and the capacitor C1may be connected in the side of connection node n1 with the switch SW1,while the resistor R1 may be connected in the side of anode terminal ofthe diode D2.

FIG. 27 illustrates an embodiment where the present invention is appliedto the switching regulator of the hysteresis current mode control systemwhich generates negative voltage.

The negative voltage generating switching regulator of this embodimenthas a structure that allocation of coil L1 and switch SW3 is inverted inthe voltage step-up type switching regulator of FIG. 25. Moreover, thediode D3 for preventing backward current is inverted in allocation fromthe diode D2 of FIG. 25. In this embodiment, the resistor for sensingcurrent in series to the coil L1 is not provided as in the case of theembodiment of FIG. 25, the serially connected capacitor C1 and resistorR1 are connected in parallel to the coil L1, and the potential of theconnection node n2 of the capacitor C1 and resistor R1 is inputted tothe non-inverted input terminal of the hysteresis comparator H-CMP. Evenin this embodiment, since the serial resistor for sensing current is notprovided, there is provided a merit that power consumption can bereduced in comparison with the conventional switching regulator.

Here, it is also possible that the diode D3 is replaced with thesynchronous switch which is complementarily turned ON and OFF to themain switch SW3 and the error amplifier EA2 and resistors R4, R5 whichcan adjust the output voltage are eliminated to apply in direct thereference voltage Vref1 to the hysteresis comparator H-CMP. Moreover,like the embodiment of FIG. 23, the hysteresis comparator H-CMP isreplaced with the ordinary comparator to switch the reference voltagethereof in order to provide the hysteresis characteristic.

FIG. 28 illustrates an embodiment of the second invention of the presentspecification.

In this embodiment, the second invention is applied to the switchingregulator where the reference voltage VHYS of two stages are generatedas the voltage to be supplied to the comparator CMP like the embodimentof FIG. 19 in order to give the hysteresis characteristic. In morepractical, the MOSFET TR1 is provided in parallel to the resistor R8 ofthe resistance dividing circuit 121 which generates the referencevoltage VHYS of two stages applied to the comparator CMP by diving thereference voltage Vref1 of the reference power source VREF1 with theresistors R6, R7, R8 and the ON resistance of the MOSFET TR1 is variedwith the circuit having the structure similar to the PLL (Phase-LockedLoop) in order to compensate for the reference voltage VHYS generatedwith the resistance dividing circuit 121.

In the circuits of FIG. 16 and FIG. 19, it is apparent from the formula(2) that the switching frequency fsw varies when the input voltage Vinand output voltage Vout are changed. In addition, when the switchingfrequency fsw of regulator varies and it is matched with thecommunication frequency in the electronic device having thecommunication function and audio reproducing function, there isprobability for generation of beat noise in the audible frequency banddue to the electromagnetic interference. Therefore, in this embodiment,generation of noise is controlled by compensating for the referencevoltage VHYS so that the switching frequency fsw of regulator is alwaysmatched with the frequency fref of the reference clock φc even when theinput voltage Vin and output voltage Vout are changed.

In more practical, the switching regulator of this embodiment comprisesthe frequency comparator 101 which detects difference between thefrequency of the potential Vn1 (the control signal of switch SW1 is alsoallowable) of the connection node n1 of the switches SW1 and SW2 whichchanges in the same period as the switching frequency fsw of theregulator and the reference clock φc of the system and outputs thesignals UP, DN depending on the frequency difference, the charge pumpcircuit 102 which is operated with the output signals UP, DN of thefrequency comparator 101, and the loop filter 103 for generating thecontrol voltage Vc with inclusion of the capacitor which is charged anddischarged with the charge pump circuit 102. Accordingly, the voltage Vcof the loop filter 103 is applied to the gate terminal of the MOSFETTR1. Moreover, the switches SW11, SW12 are provided between the loopfilter 103 and charge pump circuit 102. The PLL circuit generally usesthe phase comparator and both phase comparator and frequency comparatorare sometimes provided in order to assure quick pull-in of thefrequency. In the circuit configuration of this embodiment, only thefrequency comparator is used.

The circuit of this embodiment is operated to increase, when thepotential Vn1 of the node n1, namely the switching frequency ofregulator becomes relatively high, the voltage Vc of the loop filter 103to reduce the ON resistance of the MOSFET TR1 and thereby to reduce thecombined resistance with the resistor R8 to lower the reference voltageVHYS. Moreover, when the changing frequency of the potential Vn1 of thenode n1 becomes relatively lower, the voltage Vc of the loop filter 103is also lowered to increase the ON resistance of the MOSFET TR1.Thereby, the combined resistance with the resistor R8 becomes large toincrease the reference voltage VHYS.

FIG. 29 illustrates the relationship among the switching frequency fswof regulator and voltage Vc of loop filter 103 and the reference voltageVHYS. As in the case of FIG. 29, the switching frequency fsw of theregulator is controlled to be always matched with or set to the valuenear the frequency fref of the reference clock φc of the system bycompensating for the reference voltage VHYS to be inversely proportionalto the voltage Vc which increases proportionally to the switchingfrequency fsw. As a result, it can be prevented that beat noise isgenerated in the audible frequency range with the switching noisegenerated by the regulator.

Here, when the reference voltage VHYS is changed by controlling the ONresistance of the MOSFET TR1 through operation of the PLL circuitdescribed above, since the period where the potential Vn1 of the node n1varies is extended or shortened with the control of ON/OFF period of theswitches SW1, SW2 extended when the output current Iout is varied(transient periods T2, T4) as described with reference to the timingchart of FIGS. 18A to 18E, an output of the frequency comparator 101 istemporarily interfered. Therefore, in this embodiment, the monitoringcircuit 104 is provided to monitor the potential Vn1 (control signal ofswitch SW1 is also allowable) of the connection node n1 of the switchesSW1 and SW2 and the switches SW11, SW12 are quickly controlled, when theON period of the switch SW1 is continued for the predetermined period oflonger, to become OFF so that an output of the frequency comparator 101is not supplied to the charge pump 102.

The present invention has been described above practically withreference to the preferred embodiment, but the present invention is notlimited to above embodiments and allows various changes or modificationswithin the scope not departing from the claims. For example, in aboveembodiments, the synchronous switch SW2 is provided in series to themain switch SW1 in order to operate to reduce the current to the coilwhen the switch SW1 is turned OFF. But, this synchronous switch SW2 maybe replaced with a diode. Moreover, in the embodiment of FIG. 28, themonitoring circuit 104 monitors the potential Vn1 of the node n1 in viewof suspending compensation for the reference voltage VHYS during theperiod where the output current varies but it is also possible to formthe structure that compensating operation for the reference voltage VHYSis suspended by monitoring the potential of the other area such as thenode n2.

The switching regulator invented as the present invention has beendescribed above as the example where it is independently used as thepower supply device of an electronic device in the application fieldconsidered as the background of the present invention, but the switchingregulator of the present invention can also be used widely into theswitching regulator and DC-DC converter in the semiconductor integratedcircuit device.

The effects of the typical invention disclosed in the present inventionare as follows.

Namely, according to the present invention, there is provided aswitching power supply device of the hysteresis current mode controlsystem which assures excellent response characteristic for change ofoutput current and lower power consumption. Thereby, it is possible torealize a portable electronic device which can reduce consumption ofbattery in the power supply device to be driven with the battery and canensure long-term operation only with single battery or with singlecharge thereof.

Moreover, according to the present invention, it is possible to realizethe switching power supply device of hysteresis current mode controlsystem which can generate high precision voltage where the switchingfrequency does not depend on coil inductance and amplitude of coilcurrent. In addition, a switching power supply device can also berealized wherein generation of noise which may give adverse effect onthe system can be suppressed because the switching frequency does notvary.

1. A switching power supply device comprising: a first power source nodeand a second power source node; a first switching element coupledbetween the first power source node and an output node; a secondswitching element coupled between the second power source and the outputnode; a comparison circuit having a hysteresis characteristic; a seriescircuit including a first resistor element and a first capacitor elementcoupled via a first controlling node therebetween, the first controllingnode producing a first controlling voltage which is input to one inputof a first comparator of the comparison circuit; a smoothing circuitcomprising a first circuit element and a second capacitor element, thesmoothing circuit being coupled between the output node and the secondpower source node, the first circuit element being coupled to the seriescircuit in parallel, the second capacitor element being coupled to aload in parallel; and wherein the comparison circuit discriminates thefirst controlling voltage with a first threshold voltage and a secondthreshold voltage, and the comparison circuit outputs a discriminationresult to control the first switching element and the second switchingelement so as to effect the first controlling voltage in response tovariation of the power supply provided to the load.
 2. A switching powersupply device according to claim 1, wherein the comparison circuitoutputs the discrimination result to control the first switching elementand the second switching element so as to effect the first controllingvoltage between the first and second threshold voltages in response tovariation of the power supply provided to the load.
 3. A switching powersupply device according to claim 1, wherein the comparison circuitoutputs the discrimination result to control the first switching elementand the second switching element so as to increase an operation currentfor the load when the first controlling voltage is smaller than thefirst threshold voltage, and wherein the comparison circuit outputs thediscrimination result to control the first switching element and thesecond switching element so as to reduce the operation current when thefirst controlling voltage is greater than the second threshold voltage.4. A switching power supply device according to claim 1, wherein anoperation current for the load is increased when the first controllingvoltage is increasing and between the first threshold voltage and thesecond threshold voltage, and wherein the operation current is reducedwhen the first controlling voltage is decreasing and between the firstthreshold voltage and the second threshold voltage.
 5. A switching powersupply device according to claim 1, wherein a switching control for thefirst switching element and the second switching element is changed froma first control increasing an operation current for the load to a secondcontrol reducing the operation current when the operation current isincreased and the first controlling voltage is equal to the secondthreshold voltage, and wherein the switching control is changed from thesecond control to the first control when the operation current isreduced and the first controlling voltage is equal to the firstthreshold voltage.
 6. A switching power supply device according to claim1, wherein during the switching control, there is a first period inwhich both of the first switching element and the second switchingelement are turned off before the first switching element is turned on,and a second period in which both of the first switching element and thesecond switching element are turned off before the second switchingelement is turned on.
 7. A switching power supply device according toclaim 1, further comprising an error amplifier, a second resistorelement and a third resistor element, wherein a second voltagecorresponds to an operation current for the load and is applied to theload, wherein the second resistor element and the third resistor elementdivide the second voltage to generate a third voltage, wherein the thirdvoltage is input to one input node of the error amplifier, and areference voltage is input to another input node of the error amplifier,wherein an output from an output node of the error amplifier is input toa second input of the first comparator.
 8. A switching power supplydevice according to claim 1, further comprising a third capacitorelement; wherein the third capacitor element is arranged between thefirst controlling node and the first resistor element.
 9. A switchingpower supply device according to claim 1, wherein the comparison circuitincludes a plurality of additional resistor elements and a thirdswitching element, wherein the plurality of additional resistor elementsare coupled between a first reference voltage terminal and the secondpower source node in series, wherein one of the additional resistorelements and the third switching element coupled in parallel, wherein afirst reference voltage is provided to the first reference voltageterminal, wherein one input of the first comparator is an input of thecomparison circuit, wherein an output of the first comparator is anoutput of the comparison circuit, wherein two of the additional resistorelements divide the first reference voltage to generate a furthervoltage, wherein the further voltage is input to a second input of thefirst comparator, wherein an output from an output node of the firstcomparator is input to the third switching element, and wherein theoutput of the first comparator controls the third switching element soas to provide the hysteresis characteristic.
 10. A switching powersupply device according to claim 1, wherein the comparison circuitincludes a plurality of additional resistor elements, a secondcomparator and an RS flip-flop, wherein the additional resistor elementsare coupled between a reference voltage terminal and the second powersource node in series, wherein a reference voltage is provided to thereference voltage terminal, wherein two of the additional resistorelements divide the reference voltage to generate a further voltage,wherein the first controlling voltage is input to one input of the firstcomparator and one input of the second comparator, wherein the referencevoltage is input to a second input of the first comparator, wherein thefurther voltage is input to a second input of the second comparator,wherein an output of the first comparator is input to a reset terminalof the RS flip-flop, wherein an output of the second comparator is inputto a set terminal of the RS flip-flop, and wherein an output of the RSflip-flop is an output of the comparison circuit.
 11. A switching powersupply device according to claim 1, wherein the first circuit element isa diode.
 12. A switching power supply device according to claim 1,wherein the first circuit element is a transformer.
 13. A switchingpower supply device according to claim 1, wherein the first circuitelement is a coil.
 14. A switching power supply device according toclaim 1, further comprising an additional resistor element and anadditional capacitor element, and wherein the additional resistorelement is coupled between the second power source node and the firstcontrolling node, and wherein the additional capacitor element iscoupled between the second power source node and the first controllingnode.
 15. A switching power supply device according to claim 1, whereinthe first circuit element is a third switching element.
 16. A switchingpower supply device including: a first circuit element; a circuit; and afirst switching element; wherein the circuit includes a series circuitand a comparison circuit, wherein the series circuit comprises a firstresistor element and a first capacitor element, wherein the comparisoncircuit has a hysteresis characteristic, wherein the switching powerdevice provides an operation current to a load through the first circuitelement by switching control of the first switching element, wherein oneinput node of the comparison circuit receives a first voltage inconnection with the first circuit element from a first node between thefirst resistor element and the first capacitor element, wherein a firstthreshold voltage is smaller than a second threshold voltage, whereinthe comparison circuit discriminates whether the first voltage isgreater than the first threshold voltage, and further discriminateswhether the first voltage is smaller than the second threshold voltage,and wherein the comparison circuit outputs a discrimination result tothe first switching element so as to operate the switching control suchthat the first voltage is controlled between the first threshold voltageand the second threshold voltage.
 17. A switching power supply deviceaccording to claim 16, wherein the comparison circuit outputs thediscrimination result to the first switching element so as to operatethe switching control for increasing the operation current when thefirst voltage is smaller than the first threshold voltage, and whereinthe comparison circuit outputs the discrimination result to the firstswitching element so as to operate the switching control for reducingthe operation current when the first voltage is greater than the secondthreshold voltage.
 18. A switching power supply device according toclaim 16, wherein the first circuit element is coupled to the seriescircuit in parallel, wherein the first resistor element is coupledbetween first switching element and the first capacitor element, whereinthe switching control is effected for increasing the operation currentwhen the first voltage is increasing and between the first thresholdvoltage and the second threshold voltage, and wherein the switchingcontrol is effected for reducing the operation current when the firstvoltage is decreasing and between the first threshold voltage and thesecond threshold voltage.
 19. A switching power supply device accordingto claim 16, wherein the switching control is changed from control forincreasing the operation current to control for reducing the operationcurrent when the first voltage is equal to the second threshold voltage,and wherein the switching control is changed from control for reducingthe operation current to control for increasing the operation currentwhen the first voltage is equal to the first threshold voltage.
 20. Aswitching power supply device according to claim 16, further comprisinga second switching element, wherein a second node is coupled to thefirst resistor element, the first circuit element, the first switchingelement and the second switching element, wherein the first switchingelement, the second node and the second switching element are coupled inseries between a power voltage supply line and a ground level voltagesupply line, wherein each of the first switching element and the secondswitching element is switch controlled by switching control of the firstswitching element and the second switching element, wherein during theswitching control, there is a first period in which both of the firstswitching element and the second switching element are turned off beforethe first switching element is turned on, and a second period in whichboth of the first switching element and the second switching element areturned off before the second switching element is turned on.
 21. Aswitching power supply device according to claim 16, further comprisingan error amplifier, a second resistor element and a third resistorelement, wherein the first circuit element is coupled to the seriescircuit in parallel, wherein the first resistor element is coupledbetween first switching element and the first capacitor element, whereina second voltage corresponds to the operation current and is applied tothe load, wherein the second resistor element and the third resistorelement divide the second voltage to generate a third voltage, whereinthe third voltage is input to one input node of the error amplifier,wherein a reference voltage is input to another input node of the erroramplifier, and wherein an output from an output node of the erroramplifier is input to a second input node of the comparison circuit. 22.A switching power supply device according to claim 16, furthercomprising a second capacitor element, wherein the second capacitorelement is arranged between the first node and the first resistorelement.
 23. A switching power supply device according to claim 16,wherein the comparison circuit includes a plurality of additionalresistor elements, an additional switching element and a firstcomparator, wherein the plurality of additional resistor elements arecoupled between a first reference voltage terminal and a first groundvoltage terminal in series, wherein one of the additional resistorelements and the additional switching element are coupled in parallel,wherein a first reference voltage is provided to the first referencevoltage terminal, wherein one input node of the first comparator is oneinput node of the comparison circuit, wherein an output node of thefirst comparator is an output node of the comparison circuit, whereintwo of the additional resistor elements divide the first referencevoltage to generate a further voltage, wherein the further voltage isinput to a second input node of the first comparator, wherein an outputfrom the output node of the first comparator is input to the additionalswitching element, and wherein the output from the output node of thefirst comparator controls the additional switching element so as toprovide the hysteresis characteristic.
 24. A switching power supplydevice according to claim 16, wherein the comparison circuit includes aplurality of additional resistor elements, a first comparator, a secondcomparator and an RS flip-flop, wherein the additional resistor elementsare coupled between a reference voltage terminal and a ground voltageterminal in series, wherein a reference voltage is provided to thereference voltage terminal, wherein two of the additional resistorelements divide the reference voltage to generate a further voltage,wherein the first voltage is input to one input node of the firstcomparator and one input node of the second comparator, wherein thereference voltage is input to a second input node of the firstcomparator, wherein the further voltage is input to a second input nodeof the second comparator, wherein an output from an output node of thefirst comparator is input to a reset terminal of the RS flip-flop,wherein an output from an output node of the second comparator is inputto a set terminal of the RS flip-flop, and wherein an output from anoutput node of the RS flip-flop is an output of the comparison circuit.25. A switching power supply device according to claim 16, wherein thefirst circuit element includes a diode.
 26. A switching power supplydevice according to claim 16, wherein the first circuit element includesa transformer.
 27. A switching power supply device according to claim16, wherein the first circuit element includes a coil.
 28. A switchingpower supply device according to 16, further comprising an additionalresistor element and an additional capacitor element, wherein theadditional resistor element is coupled between a ground level voltagesupply line and the first node, and wherein the additional capacitorelement is coupled between the ground level voltage supply line and thefirst node.
 29. A switching power supply device according to claim 16,further comprising an additional capacitor element, wherein theadditional capacitor element is coupled to the load in parallel.
 30. Aswitching power supply device according to claim 16, wherein the firstcircuit element includes an additional switching element.
 31. Asemiconductor integrated circuit comprising: a first switching element;a comparator, and a first terminal, wherein the first terminal isadapted to be coupled to a first circuit element, wherein thesemiconductor integrated circuit is adapted to provide an operationcurrent from the first terminal to a load through the first switchingelement by switching control of the first switching element, wherein thecomparator has a hysteresis characteristic, wherein one input node ofthe comparator is adapted to receive a first voltage, in connection witha current path, from a first node between a first resistor element and afirst capacitor element of a series circuit, wherein a first thresholdvoltage is smaller than a second threshold voltage, wherein thecomparator discriminates whether the first voltage is greater than thefirst threshold voltage, and further discriminates whether the firstvoltage is smaller than the second threshold voltage, and wherein thecomparator outputs a discrimination result to the first switch elementso as to operate the switching control such that the first voltage iscontrolled between the first threshold voltage and the second thresholdvoltage.
 32. A semiconductor integrated circuit according to 31, furthercomprising the series circuit.
 33. A semiconductor integrated circuitaccording to 31, further comprising a second switching element, whereinthe first terminal is adapted to couple to the first resistor element,the current path, the first switching element and the second switchingelement, wherein the first switching element, the first terminal and thesecond switching element are adapted to be coupled in series between apower voltage supply line and a ground level voltage supply line, andwherein each of the first switching element and the second switchingelement is switch controlled by switching control of the first switchingelement and the second switching element.
 34. A semiconductor integratedcircuit according to claim 31, further comprising an error amplifier,wherein the first circuit element is arranged to be coupled to theseries circuit in parallel, wherein the first resistor element isadapted to be coupled between first switching element and the firstcapacitor element, wherein a second voltage corresponds to the operationcurrent and is applied to the load, wherein a third voltage is adaptedto generated by a second resistor element and a third resistor elementdividing the second voltage, wherein the third voltage is input to oneinput node of the error amplifier, wherein a reference voltage is inputto another input node of the error amplifier, and wherein an output froman output node of the error amplifier is input to a second input node ofthe comparator.
 35. A semiconductor integrated circuit according toclaim 31, wherein the comparator outputs a discrimination result to thefirst switching element so as to operate the switching control forincreasing the operation current when the first voltage is smaller thanthe first threshold voltage, and wherein the comparator outputs thediscrimination result to the first switch element so as to operate theswitching control for reducing the operation current when the firstvoltage is greater than the second threshold voltage.
 36. Asemiconductor integrated circuit according to claim 32, wherein thefirst circuit element is coupled to the series circuit in parallel,wherein the first resistor element is coupled between first switchingelement and the first capacitor element, wherein the switching controlis effected for increasing the operation current when the first voltageis increasing and between the first threshold voltage and the secondthreshold voltage, wherein the switching control is effected forreducing the operation current when the first voltage is decreasing andbetween the first threshold voltage and the second threshold voltage.37. A semiconductor integrated circuit according to claim 31, whereinthe switching control is changed from control for increasing theoperation current to control for reducing the operation current when thefirst voltage is equal to the second threshold voltage, and wherein theswitching control is changed from control for reducing the operationcurrent to control for increasing the operation current when the firstvoltage is equal to the first threshold voltage.
 38. A semiconductorintegrated circuit according to claim 31, wherein the first circuitelement includes a diode.
 39. A semiconductor integrated circuitaccording to claim 31, wherein the first circuit element includes atransformer.
 40. A semiconductor integrated circuit according to claim31, wherein the first circuit element includes a coil.
 41. Asemiconductor integrated circuit according to claim 31, wherein thefirst circuit element includes an additional switching element.